To disagree with an earlier reviewer, I've gotta suggest that this is quite an above average show and would have been above average on any tour after Phish Destroyed America in 1997.

The smoking First Tube was an appropriately Michael Phelpsian opener instantly engaging the crowd by getting everybody locked in. The closing delay loops melted into Jibboo in a manner that should be indicated by an > and not a comma. Nice little false segue into a song that thematically drew together the songs on either side of it. Taking the energy a step down before the gorgeous Corrina sent ripples through the chocolate skies.
Birds wasn't in Type II form tonight but nicely fulfilled it's role as the middle-period Chalkdust Torture. Trey lays some nice skronky licks down at the beginning of this jam and bases a lot of his riffs around fragments of the main riff of Birds. He gets some really nice mileage out of this tactic and the whole jam has a shify dark blue vibe to it despite ostensibly just being a mid-set rage up.

After Birds, Phish fires up their first original reggae song since Makisupa Policeman. God I miss Windora Bug. Along with Ain't Love Funny and I Don't Care, this is one of the songs I'd want to see the most despite having no hope of doing so. There just isn't much support behind these guys. Not old enough to fulfill the bustout enthusiast, not played in high profile enough spots to really have genuine fan salivation behind them. I remember during the Sanity/Makisupa/First Tube encore at MPP thinking for SURE it was Windora and not Makisupa. c'est la vie. Bundt Cake. The post-97 period is a great time for Makisupa mini-jams and that carries over into the Windora Bug with a few minutes of some nice dubby spaciness between the penultimate and final choruses.

The Antelope isn't one that's going to stand up above the fray for any reason other than Tom & His daughter singing the ending lyrics, but Page has some excellent angular chords tossed into the buildup to the crescendo. Golgi. Bittersweet. Yup, sets have to end I guess.

The second set battles the following night's magnum opus at MPP for the unquestioned champion of this tour. This Piper doesn't quite shift right into orgasm mode right after the lyrics and instead takes its time, man it's a great way to do it. Not long after we've already dropped down into a jam that sounds like when a Birds jam shifts into jazzier Type II territory. Still quick drumming but spaced out and spooky. This Piper is extremely textural and ambiance based yet never loses his propulsion thanks to Fishman's nimble beats. Similar to the MPP Rock & Roll, it's a great way to get a 2nd set started. Melting into Lizards is quite a way to finish a long improv segment. Lizards isn't the tightest..but really, what isn't a little bit sloppy between February 1997 and Coventry?

Tube comes next, and again in a precognitive mirroring of the following show at MPP and it's stellar mid-set Mango, we get the best version of a song that's had a jam less than 10% of it's total performances. This Tube funks its way into some sweet syncopation about 5 minutes in, dives into the Bluesy theme around 6:30. I love how the delay loops afterwards convinced so many people we weren't going to have another Tube Reprise jam, and after about a minute, the funk drops. This melts into some jazzier spaces before turning into a dark bluesy death march around 12 minutes in. Reminiscent of Whipping Post or maybe The Other One, if you're a fan of classic rock touchstones. We've picked up speed by 13 minutes in and by 13:20 Fishman hits the nastiest beat. I hate to keep bringing the next show up, but it really reminds me of the MPP Dog Log. These shows felt like mirrors of each other a dozen years ago, and they still do. Unfortunately that beat gets tossed aside for a minute of directionless jamming before suddenly the jam lifts off the ground and starts thrashing around and hitting that mind shattering peak like so many millenial Piper/DWD/R&R jams did. This hyperdrive doesn't last overlong like so many of those songs did around this time and quickly mellows out into a stellar segue into Circus.

9/15/2000 in Hershey Park was quite the experience for me and my whole family. I was there with both of my sisters, my Dad, and six other friends from Rutgers. It was my Dad's first Phish show as well as some of my friends. He had driven our family minivan that fit seven of us while three of my other friends drove in a separate car. We have a really good family photo of all of us sitting around the back of the minivan in the parking lot while I'm wearing my TREY IS GOD shirt.

Although I did not know my wife for another year, it was her birthday, and she also attended the show with people from her side of the family.

The one thing we had in common was that it was the end of the line for all of us as far as the era that would be considered 1.0 goes. There were rumors that Phish was breaking up and I knew that this show was it for a long time.

Let's just say that some of us took full advantage of my Dad driving and had some very "spiritual and self-reflective" experiences at this show. I was completely faced and was trying to act "normal." It was all good.

My Dad hung out near the top of the stadium seating, Page Side Rage Side, along with some of our crew that didn't feel like dealing with the crowded general admission section in front of the stage. Both of my sisters, my friend Kevin, and I stayed down in front of Mike, about ten feet back from the rail. The boys came out and kicked the show right off with First Tube. It was my third First Tube in my last five shows, but I was very excited to hear it. I also got my fifth Gotta Jibboo in my last eight shows, but it was fun up in front of the stage. I was there for the Corrina bust-out at Big Cypress and recognized the opening words from Trey. Both the song and I floated on the cool September breeze. Birds was a blast and had a standard good type 1 jam. I will never forget my sister leaning over to me in the second verse and saying "It's not an experience if you can't bring your Dad along..." Priceless. I did not know what was going on with Windora Bug but I loved it. I am so glad I caught one at this show, because I wouldn't hear it again until twelve years later at a TAB show.

Antelope was fun and intense. It had me on the edge until Tom Marshall appeared on the stage with his daughter, symbolically telling me to hang on tight, and everything was ok. I did just that. Golgi and Bittersweet Motel mellowed me out enough to ascend the giant steps to find my Dad and the other half of our crew at set break.

Set break was a blur from atop Hershey Park Stadium. I quietly sat and pondered, keeping myself together. Two of my friends were standing next to my Dad. My one friend said, "Whoa, look at the moon in the sky! It looks like it's melting!" My other friend said, "Oh shit, you're right!" I glanced up and could not disagree, and I knew I had to get away again. My younger sister took the reins and guided my friend Kevin and I down the stairs and through the sea of people for what seemed like three quarters of the opening Piper. It was a dark and pungent type 2 jam that was held together by Fishman's steady drive. I felt like I was almost invisible as I held on to the back of her hoody while she navigated us to the front of the sound board, which is where we stayed for the rest of the set. I was pulling myself together when the light strumming guitar riff from Lizards emerged from the dark Piper. I had a peak experience during Lizards when, during my internal dialogue, I realized I was invisible and could communicate with aliens through music. Just to hammer home the point, Trey even put some alien-esque reverb on his guitar during the opening notes of the outro solo before bringing it back to the clean channel. For a moment I was Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. TUBE! Hello reality! I found my body, put on my dancing shoes, and boogied down on the plastic floor. Tube ended and then...started back up again in a Tube Reprise jam! It was similar to the Suzy Reprise from the night before at Darien Lake in that the song ended and a separate jam containing the theme came back and pushed forward to type 2 territory. If this isn't the best Tube ever, I would like to hear what beats it. Circus mellowed us out and Character Zer0 was one last tension/release solo to end the night.

During the break before the encore, I focused on having as much fun as possible because this was the last song I would hear for the foreseeable future. The build up to Possum started. It was a rocking, ten minute version, but it was over soon enough and so was the show. I took one last mental image of the stage during the pandemonium of mass exodus. We made it to the bottom of the stairs to meet up with everyone else and escaped Hershey Park Stadium.

We hung out in the lot for a long time because the traffic out was not moving at all. I have three vivid memories from this point in the night. While sitting in the back of the van with the hatch up, I was watching two very tall, wookie-looking guys, running laps around their car and jumping off of their beer cooler in a graceful prance during each time around. The larger wookie-guy slipped on the cooler during one of the laps and went down hard. He was ok and it was very funny. Suddenly a pretty hippie girl walked between two of the parked cars and hollered, "Big Finger Man!" The guy that had just bottomed out stood up and shouted, "Katie!" Then they gave each other a big hug.

Soon after my friend was trying to inconspicuously twist up a little pinner before we left, but because of his state at the time, he was having difficulty pulling it all together. I distinctly remember my Dad pulling the ingredients from his trembling hand, twisting it up, and handing it back to him in about ten seconds. I give my Dad total props.

As we boarded the minivan and were leaving the lot, somebody had left a big orange couch that was sitting alone in the middle of the field. My Dad told us he wouldn't be surprised to see our friend Ryan sitting on that couch. Not sooner than he said it did we see our friend Ryan, who we hadn't seen since before the show, running across the field and sit comfortably in the middle of the exiting traffic on the bright orange couch. It was meant to be.

We had a long but fun ride back to New Brunswick, NJ. We made it back to Rutgers by 5 AM, where my Dad dropped off my friends and I before heading home with my sisters. We all had a great and unforgettable time. My Dad would also make it out to the IT Festival in 2003 to round out his Phish experience. Hershey was the last stop for me for 1.0 and I would have to wait seventeen more months before my next show.

Great 2000 show.

1st Tube is lightening as basically every version is from 2000. Nice Jibboo with a nice Gin like hose jam. Antelope is a top shelf fire version. Everything else from the set is straight forward but they are playing everything very well.

Piper should be a noteworthy jam, plain and simple. Nothing I have heard comes close to the Drum Logos jam sound except for this. You definitely get the mellowness and what I like to call the "Alien Robot Machinery" sound. Lizards is solid. Tube is the 2nd peak in the set. Not only is it played abnormally well they actually give it the extremely rare jam treatment. It takes you for a very nice ride. The rest of the set is average.

Possum is always a very welcome encore and this one is fire!

Overall a great show from a hit or miss year.

I've only been able to catch 10 shows over the past 15 years.

To be able to say I saw Tom Marshall perform the Rye Rye Rocco segment in Antelope with his daughter on stage, on her birthday I believe, is amazing to me.

Disclaimer: This was my first show.

I was locked down and unable to attend a Phish show until my third year listening to the band. From 1997 when I was given a "Gumbo" single from my bus driver till 2000, I had only enjoyed them on albums and traded live tapes and discs on Phishhook (remember that).

I went with a good crew. Two people had never seen them (myself), two had seen them a few times, and one person thought they saw them but was too inebriated to remember. We got there early and traffic was already slow. This was before Hershey had renovated and add acres of parking lots to their compound. We had pregamed in my Dickinson College dorm before and were feeling right so we decided to hear right in.

The first set to me was just magical. It started fast with First Tube, got funky with Jibboo, and then got Phishy with a string of Corinna, Birds, Windora Bug, and Antelope. That run of songs showcased the reason I loved Phish. They play everything. Golgi was great and I knew enough to think that that song was going to be the set closer but they threw in a perfect, dusk time Bittersweet Motel to close things out.

I wouldn't know it at the time but second set was straight amazing. Piper opener felt a little crunchy and I liked it, the segue into Lizards was great and then the 15+ minute Tube was out of this world. My mind was officially blown and the rest of the show is just piece meal from there. I do remember that we hit a Possum on the way back to Carlisle and we all thought that really summed things up. In retrospect, I blame the fog and the Possum's decision to cross I-81 after a stellar Phish show in which they were the encored song. He pretty much had it coming.

This is not a bad show at all. Really is a weird venue, though. We made the hour drive from college and headed to Chocolate City. Security is a nightmare and anyone that saw this show or the much more ballyhooed 95 show here knows it. Plus, they cover the infield grass with a horrible weird rubber surface. Really odd. In any event, I thought the band showed flashes of inspiration. I have seen this show ripped by some in the blog world, but it really wasn't that bad. In fact, I will give it a general 6 out of 10.

Set 1:
First Tube was still a relatively new song at this point and fired up the energy. I was pleased to hear it live because it sounds so good on the studio album and they came through. Jiboo was played constantly during the summer of 2000 through this point and I was just ok with it. Nice little jam, but nothing special. Corinna was weird, but that's ok for the third song of the first set. I recall BOAF absolutely smoking, but Windora Bug was along the lines of Corinna and the crowd was confused. OK, maybe this set was up and down. The Antelope had a really nice, patient intro and great energy when they kicked into it. Good jam and Tom on vocals. I knew we would hear Bittersweet considering the commonwealth we were in, but in hindsight, it looks like they should have switched it with Golgi.

Set Break: I wandered around on that crazy rubber floor in the stadium, met up with some friends, and took in the scene. Truthfully, Phish fans looked dazed and out of place in that venue. Maybe it was just me, but with the lights on and that floor, people looked tweaked.

Set 2:
The run of songs that open the first set should be sought out, especially by people that were there so they can relive it. It was hot. Lizards was really strong and Page was on point, while Tube got thick and sticky. I really enjoyed it. I can't remember commenting that it was a short set, but that seems to be the consensus gripe about this show. Also, Circus and Zero kind of cheesed out the set. Possum encore simply felt obligatory.

So let me rethink my initial thoughts. This is an average show. There is nothing wrong with that. I had a blast, saw some friends I had not seen in years, and made it back to campus in beautiful Emmitsburg, MD in one piece. The music had high points and mediocrity, but an average Phish show is an experience to be savored.

This was my 21st birthday, and my ex-girlfriends 1st show...our first date! We're still close friends to this day. Nice show too.

After the heater of show the night before, what will the band have in store for night 2?

First Tube and Jibboo have some great energy to open the show. Good peaks in both. Corinna up next and once again we have an early ballad. I'll say coming off the heals of the first two songs it feels appropriate for a bit of a breather. No complaints from me. Birds continues the trend of good type 1 jams in this set. Good stuff. Even the not so memorable stuff is still played well and has life to it. I'm still not a fan of Windora Bug but this one has a nice ambient middle section that's worth your time. Antelope and Golgi push the momentum to what seems like the end of the set. But there's one more surprise in the form of Bittersweet Motel. A nice rarity that's always appreciated and a nod to Pennsylvania.

Set 2 kicks off with Piper and it immediately picks up where last night's Drowned left off. Trey once again sits back and lets Page, Mike and Fish do most of the work. If you liked that last night you'll love this. If you didn't this jam won't win you over as it really is more of the same. The Lizards gets in a nice cool down from the Piper. I wish they'd use this a cool down more often as it fits in perfectly after a rager. Next up, the most famous part of this show, tube > Tube! The first Tube (hehuheh) consists of a by now standard uptempo spacey funk jam. Very good stuff on it's own. The band really is pushing with this one. Really feeling it! So it's questionable why Trey suddenly blasts the jam ending guitar line. Ah well, ripcords have happened all throughout Phish history. Moments after the song concludes Trey counts off the next song and...wait, it's Tube again! I don't know how expected this was but the crowd LOVES it. This 2nd jam is not afraid to go type 2 as Fish changes up the beat about 4 times before settling into a comfortable fast paced groove eventually coming to a screaming climax!!! Must listen. A very late 1.0 cool down comes next with When the Circus Comes. I have a soft spot for this song in the same way I do for Bug in 2.0. Zero caps off a great set in classic fashion and Possum is a fine encore.

This is a GOOD show. Not as good as the night before but it has a nice flow and good song choice. Some great moments with Piper and Tube. Give this one a listen.